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The One and Only Ivan<\/em><\/strong> by Katherine Applegate may be fiction, but it’s based on a real gorilla who was closed up in a bare cage at a circus-themed shopping mall for 27 years.\u00a0 I knew it well.\u00a0 Ivan lived a couple miles from me when I was a kid. I saw him many times in his small, lonely, steel and concrete cell.\u00a0 And I remember the day he was sent to a modern zoo to live with other gorillas.<\/p>\n It was that personal connection alone that led me to pick up this book recently, but I’m very glad I did.\u00a0 It’s the best story for kids (elementary to pre-teen) I’ve read in a long time.<\/p>\n Applegate took real Ivan’s plight and constructed a good, heartwarming story around it.\u00a0 She changed the location, added elephants and a dog to the cast of characters, and fictionalized the details.\u00a0 Anyone who reads it should know, however, that some of the broad strokes of the story are true, including its happy ending.<\/p>\n In Applegate’s book, Ivan tells you his story himself.\u00a0 The simple, clipped language in short paragraphs and chapters comes across quite believably as the thoughts of a gorilla.\u00a0 He tells the mostly sad story of his life (and others around him) with an innocent outlook that seems accurate for an animal whose only experience with the outdoors and other gorillas exist only as long-ago memories.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s a perspective and a rhythm that takes a few chapters to cozy to, but it doesn’t feel artificial and it doesn’t become overly dramatic.\u00a0 It works.\u00a0 It’s that narrative style that might make the sad first half of the book more comforting.\u00a0 It softens the blows, all the while turning young readers into complete and loyal fans of Ivan, Bob (a dog), Julia (a girl) and Ruby (an elephant).<\/p>\n That’s when the story takes a gentle turn — reminiscent of Charlotte’s Web<\/em> — and begins its march toward better days.\u00a0 Some kids might shed a sorrowful tear now and then during the first half of the book, but they’ll be bawling their happy<\/em> little eyes out by the end.\u00a0 You might, too.\u00a0 Have tissues on hand.<\/p>\n NOTE TO PARENTS READING TO CHILDREN: It’s easy to like the main characters in this book. They don’t know what the future will be and they don’t know what they’re capable of, but they say kind things, look out for one another, and find their own strength.\u00a0 For those reasons alone, it’s a good story for kids.\u00a0 But it’s also an excellent story to demonstrate how differently animals have been treated over the years and how zoos should be more about the animals’ well-being than crass spectacles for humans.\u00a0 You may also want to know that the book raises the topic of death a couple of times, including those of a sister and a friend.\u00a0 On pages 170-171, there are short but somewhat graphic passages about the murder of Ivan’s parents and the use of gorilla body parts.\u00a0 In no way do I wish to scare you away from this book or even skip those pages when reading with children, but it may be best to know the subject is coming.<\/p>\n NOTE ABOUT THE REAL IVAN:\u00a0 Ivan didn’t have other animal friends to “talk” to during those 27 years, but he did paint.\u00a0 He finally left the store in 1994, after media exposure and protests. \u00a0Ivan lived out his days at Zoo Atlanta with other gorillas.\u00a0 He died in August, 2012, at age 50. The store still stands.\u00a0 In fact, after all these years Ivan’s picture is still<\/em> on the sign out front (shown above, behind the book<\/em>).<\/p>\n PHOTO\u00a0\u00a9 Steve Campion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate may be fiction, but it’s based on a real gorilla who was closed up in a bare cage at a circus-themed shopping mall for 27 years.\u00a0 I knew it well.\u00a0 Ivan lived … Continue reading